On this episode – a rewind of one of THE most popular Dot to Dot episodes - Fiona speaks to Andrew Bustamante, a former ‘covert CIA intelligence officer’. They delve into the psychology of being a spy. Among other things they discuss the extreme cognitive load experienced as an officer and the need to retreat to a safe space in order to recover. Getting this wrong means “you become a major liability, not just to the operation, but to yourself and your own life.”
Andrew explains the need for officers to know themselves really well, to know how to optimise their own recovery which is in part something helped through profiling and in part a process of self-discovery. In light of this Fiona and Andrew explore psychological profiling and how important it is to fit the right personality to the right operations and delve into the use of MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) as a tool used to help every officer in the CIA understand themselves. Andrew explains his view of the world as a former spy, that ‘every human being you meet is either a source or some kind of support asset or some kind of network capability.’ And they touch on various other topics such as the elite leader, elite surgeon, elite athlete or elite in any field who is perhaps less used to failure than the average joe, or more able to plough on in spite of failure. Andrew shares his view of this, that "their failure is not in their skill. Their failure is seen in the rate of alcohol abuse, that they have substance abuse, the divorce rates, the lack of sleep, the sociopathic tendencies, the psychopathic tendencies."
Andrew describes himself as an improvement junkie. He’s also a former covert CIA intelligence officer, US Air Force combat veteran, and Fortune 10 corporate advisor. He surrounds himself with knowledge, experiences, and people who help him grow and he look for opportunities to share what he’s learnt with others.
For more from Fiona, her books, free resources and more go to www.fionamurden.com